“We ain’t got ten seconds.”
With those words, Myers began running toward the point of the wall above the main gate. Jerad and Trinity were hot on Myers’s heels. When they got to the point above the gate, all three wizard scouts jumped over the battlement and disappeared from sight. Almost immediately, Richard sensed the life forms massed below the gate begin to blink out.
Richard tried hobbling toward the section of the wall above the gate. Tam and Telsa grabbed his arms and began pulling him forward.
“No,” Richard said. “The two of you stay here and protect Emerald and the children. I’ll help the others.”
“No way,” said Tam. “We’re not sitting around with our thumbs up our butts while you do the fighting.”
In no mood for arguing, Richard’s temper snapped. His voice took on an edge he’d never used with his friends. “No! That’s an order. You’re a defender, Tam. Your shields defend against both physical and energy attacks. Mine doesn’t. The dwarf’s important. So are the children. Keep them safe at all cost.”
Richard pointed at Telsa before she had a chance to begin a protest of her own. “Those fighter-shuttles will be making another pass. Try to deflect their missiles as best you can. Our soldiers are in shock. They’ll break if the fighters do enough damage. Now move.”
Ignoring their defiant looks, Richard shrugged loose from their grasps and began moving toward the gate. He half expected them to ignore his orders, but his passive scan told him they were returning to take up positions next to the children and Emerald. With his leg partially healed, Richard started running toward the gate. By the time he reached the area where the mages had been killed, his leg was as good as new. He pulled out his short sword with his right hand and gripped his magic dagger with his left. He checked his Power reserve. It was nearly full.
Richard jumped over the edge of the wall. The thirty-meter drop to the ground went quickly. Just before he hit the ground, he wrapped himself in Power and slowed enough to duck and roll without taking any injury. A layer of orc bodies below the wall cushioned his fall as well.
Richard came out of his roll and swung his sword at a large orc to his front. The orc tried to parry, but Richard feinted past the orc’s axe. The creature fell backward with blood gushing from a slice across his neck. Sensing an attack from the rear, Richard stabbed back and upwards with his dagger catching a human mercenary between the legs. The soldier’s pitiful scream was short-lived as Richard did a backspin and got the blade of his short sword between the man’s helmet and body armor. The soldier’s head flew into the air. Richard was off seeking another target before the head hit the ground.
Richard’s fall placed him to the side of the battering ram. The crew for the massive piece of equipment was no longer attempting to use their ram to break through the gates. They were too busy fighting for their lives against the other three wizard scouts. The splintered wood and snapped hinges of the gate indicated the orcs’ near success.
If Myers and the others hadn’t counterattacked, the orcs would already be in the city.
Moving forward, Richard took out four more orcs before he caught up with the other wizard scouts. They were in a triangle with Myers at the tip. A troll in chain armor and carrying a massive sword swung at Myers. As Richard watched, his brother ducked below the swing and came up between the troll’s legs. In a maneuver similar to one Richard had once used during his Academy days, Myers stabbed upward with his bastard sword as he passed under the troll. The monster screamed in agony.
Trinity jumped into the air and lopped off the troll’s head. At the same time, Jerad cut off the creature’s right leg at the knee. Richard chopped off its left leg at the knee for good measure.
“It won’t stay down for long,” Richard said. “We have to burn it.”
“No time,” shouted Myers. “Those fighter-shuttles are making a second run.”
A glance at his passive scan proved his brother right. The fighters were on short final. A half a dozen balls of magic sped toward the city wall. Richard sensed a line of Power extend outward from Telsa and knock three of the balls down into a formation of orcs. The missiles exploded in massive fireballs burning dozens of orcs in the process. He sensed the three remaining missiles heading straight for his position at the main gate. The pilots of the shuttles obviously didn’t care that hundreds of their own troops were in the line of fire.
A shield of energy appeared in front of Richard and the others. He recognized Tam’s frequency. The missiles exploded into fireballs. Tam’s shield held.
When the fireballs dissipated, Richard sensed Tam withdraw her shield to conserve Power. An idea popped into his mind. He surrounded some of the remaining energy from the fireballs with Power and pulled it back with his telekinesis. He pushed part of the fire onto the squirming body of the troll. He sent the remainder of the fire onto the battering ram. The piece of siege equipment burst into flames.
“Time to leave,” Richard shouted. “We’ve done all we can do down here. The fire will prevent any new attacks on the gate.”
“Not for long,” Jerad said. “Those fighters aren’t done yet.”
Sure enough, the two fighters were making tight turns and beginning a third attack run. Richard sensed the other wizard scouts wrapping themselves with Power in preparation for levitating back up the wall. He began to wrap his own Power around himself, but Jerad knocked it aside before he could finish.
“Save it,” said Jerad as he wrapped Power around Richard as well as himself and began levitating them both up the wall. “My reserve’s larger.”
Richard reluctantly accepted his friend’s help. He hated being reminded his Power reserve was the smallest of any living wizard scout. However, he knew his friend was right. The battle might last a long time. He might need every drop of Power he had.
“Thanks,” Richard said as his friend touched them both down on the top of the wall.
“You can thank me proper later if we’re still alive,” said Jerad.
Jerad turned to Myers. “Trinity and I will stay here to protect the main gate. Rick and you need to get back to the children and the dwarf. The soldiers are near the breaking point. You’ve got to help Emerald get that circle thing of hers working. It’s now or never.”
Richard expected Myers to balk at being ordered around by a former student. Surprisingly, his brother merely nodded and said, “We’ll get it done or die trying. Let’s go, Shepard.”
Without waiting, Myers took off running in the direction of the children and the dwarf. As they ran, Richard sensed strong emotions from the soldiers they passed. While he wasn’t an empath, his years of association with the dolgars and their emotion-speak had made him sensitive to the more powerful emotions in people. Richard sensed fear building up in the city’s defenders. It wasn’t panic yet, but it was getting close.
The incoming fighter-shuttles fired another salvo of missiles. Half went toward the main gate and half toward the point where Tam and Telsa stood with the children and the dwarf. Once again, Telsa used her Power to divert several missiles into the orc army below. Tam’s shield held against the others. From the area of the main gate, Richard sensed Jerad and Trinity using the same ploy to defend against the missile attack there.
In a change of tactics, the two fighters didn’t pull up from their attack. They continued onward straight at the city wall. Streams of small, green balls composed of magic shot outward from the fighters.
“They’re strafing the wall,” shouted Myers. “Shields!”
Richard threw up a hasty defensive shield and kept running. Balls of green energy hit all around him blowing small pieces of granite out of the stonework wherever they hit. Several balls of energy deflected off his shield.
While he and Myers had their defensive shields to protect them, the soldiers manning the wall didn’t. Dozens were caught in the fighter’s fire. The green energy ate through the soldier’s armor and blew pieces of meat out the other side of their bodies.
“Run!” shouted a soldier as he threw down his sword and headed for the stairs.
“The city’s lost,” shouted another. “Save yourselves.”
The fighter-shuttles finished their run and passed a hundred meters overhead as they circled back to line up for another attack.
Richard dropped his defensive shield to conserve Power. He heard Colonel Dandridge’s amplified voice yelling commands as he tried to restore order to his defenders. He noticed several sergeants along the wall grab soldiers as they ran and force them back to their positions. Aided by Captain Kelvoy, Lieutenant Rirely, and several seasoned sergeants, the colonel got his command back in order. The defenders once again began trading fire with the attacking orcs.
By this time, Richard and Myers had reached their destination. He saw strange looks on the faces of both Tia and Matthew. He wouldn’t call it fear, but it was at least grave concern. Richard had a feeling the children were beginning to understand the difference between fighting an enemy at ranges of tens of thousands of meters from a Zip fighter in space and fighting them when you were close enough to see the whites of their eyes.
“Another strafing run will break these soldiers,” said Chancee as she pulled her last arrow from her quiver and fired it at the attackers. “Even the colonel won’t be able to make them hold their ground.”
Richard turned to Emerald. “It’s now or never. Get that Circle of yours going, or the city’s lost for sure.”
“What do you think I’ve been trying to do?” snapped the dwarf. “It’s not working.”
Richard had sensed the dwarf’s attempts during most of the battle. While he understood her predicament, he knew now wasn’t the time for him to be sympathetic. “Well, try harder. You said your people were murdered. Are you going to let the Dragars and their vampires get away with it? Did your parents die for nothing? Try harder.”
The dwarf did try. Richard sensed Emerald gather Power from deep within her. The Power came from much deeper than any of her earlier attempts. Several lines of Power reached outward from the dwarf and floundered around as if seeking something. The lines began to pull back.
“No!” Richard yelled. “Keep going. Don’t stop.”
The lines of Power reached back out. The lines reminded him of something. He remembered the battle where the dolgars and he had fought the demon and the dimension-shifting cats.
“She’s trying to form links,” Richard told Myers. “She’s doing it wrong.”
Myers reached out with his own diviner ability and touched one of Emerald’s half-formed links. He strengthened it and held it in place. Richard reached out and strengthened another line of Power. He forced it to touch the line held by his brother. The two lines linked together. The Power in the two links increased as they bolstered one another. Between the two links, they had more Power than they’d had separately.
“They’re creating Power,” Richard said.
“Impossible,” said Myers. “Power can’t be created.”
Richard didn’t argue the point. It didn’t matter. Out the corner of his eye, he could see the two fighter-shuttles lining up for another attack. The soldiers around him noticed it as well. Richard felt a rising emotion of fear from the nearby defenders. In spite of the efforts of several sergeants, at least a dozen soldiers dropped their swords and began running for the stairs. Richard sensed a rising fear in the city as well. He heard yelling and screaming in the streets below as the city populace sought refuge from the impending disaster. They ran, but there was no place to go. Everyone knew if the orcs breached the walls, not a man, woman, or child would be left alive.
The success of linking the two lines of Power seemed to bolster the confidence of the dwarf. More lines of Power reached out from Emerald. They were also badly formed, but less so than the first. Richard strengthened several of them and linked them together as Myers did the same with others. With each linking, additional lines of Power reached out from Emerald seeking others of their kind. Richard noticed these lines were almost fully formed.
Remembering the weave of the demon’s Power that it had used to connect the dimension-shifting cats, Richard said, “Don’t let the links cross. Link them one to the other to form a single line.”
“Here they come,” shouted Chancee as she pointed at the incoming fighters.
A large part of the wall’s defenders panicked at the approach of certain death. They formed a mob and began running for their lives. Richard hated mobs. The snarling beast which was his temper broke out of its cage. His anger reached out from his mind for the nearest source of Power. He found it close by in the expanding links being formed by Emerald.
Something deep inside Richard tingled with excitement. The something within him grabbed hold of the links and tweaked them to form a greater source of Power. He felt the same hunger he’d experienced during the battle on the black destroyer from the magical dimension a few months earlier. By tracing links from one Dragar magic user to another, he’d built up a source of Power greater than anything he’d ever experienced. He’d almost lost himself to the hunger. Richard sensed his danger now. His hunger demanded more Power. He felt it moving Emerald’s links outward in an ever-expanding circle.
The links touched the people around him, Chancee, the children, and the other wizard scouts. Richard sensed their Power through the links. He hungered for their Power but wanted more. He felt the dwarf fighting for control of the links, but Richard’s hunger was too strong. He continued to move the links outward until they touched the soldiers manning the wall. Their Power was now available through the links. It was still not enough to satisfy Richard’s hunger. He pushed the links farther out to grab hold of the soldiers fleeing down the stairs and into the streets. He reached into the buildings and attached links to the thousands of noncombatants huddling inside. Still he wasn’t satisfied. He needed more. He pushed the links outward even farther until they encompassed the entire population of the city.
The hunger inside Richard smiled. It had formed a Circle. Now it had the Power it needed. Now it would be free. Now it would suck the life force from each of the pathetic creatures around it. They didn’t matter. Only the acquisition of Power mattered.
Chapter 27 – Gaston
____________________
Gaston Myers fought the link trying to attach itself to him. He sensed a hunger in the link, which made him fear its touch. The link was powerful. Only his diviner ability was keeping it at bay. He sensed the dwarf fighting Shepard for control of the link, but her abilities were no match for those of the wizard scout. Gaston began to wonder if his own abilities were any match.
He’d witnessed Shepard’s Power before during the battle with the Conglomerate at the DNA center on Velos a few years earlier. It had been nothing like this. Shepard’s control of the expanding links threatened everyone in the city. Even Wizard Scout Trinity and the others fell victim to its effects. Gaston feared he’d lose his own battle any second and surrender to the expanding links as well. Somehow, he sensed when that happened, the hunger in Shepard would drain everyone dry.
Gaston heard a sob nearby. It was his son, Matthew. He was holding Tia in his arms. During their struggle for the links, an orc crossbow bolt had found a weak point in Tia’s neck armor. She was dying. He sensed Matthew’s concern for Tia fighting off the control of the link.
An idea came to Gaston. He feared what would happen to his son if Shepard wasn’t stopped. His concern for his son gave him the strength to resist. With an effort of will, Gaston threw off the effect of the Circle. As soon as the link was detached, Myers swung his bastard sword at Shepard’s unprotected head. At the last instant, he turned the sword so it struck with the flat of the blade. Gaston heard Shepard’s skull crack as his brother went flying into the wall. Shepard bounced off the battlement and landed face first on the stone walkway. Blood began pooling on the stone below his brother’s head.
Gaston felt the hunger leave the Circle. The links of the Circle were still there, but the hunger was go
ne.
Chapter 28 – The Circle
____________________
Emerald struggled desperately for control of the Circle to no avail. The wizard scout was too strong for her. She feared the hunger she sensed through the links. Only the fact that she still struggled prevented the hunger from draining them all dry. Her fear gave her strength, but in her heart, she knew it wouldn’t be enough. The hunger would win if nothing changed.
Just when her hope was nearly gone, Emerald saw the wizard scout they called Gaston swing out with his sword and strike Richard’s head. Even before Richard struck the wall, Emerald sensed the hunger disappear from the links of the Circle.
As soon as Emerald regained control of the Circle, she understood what she’d been doing wrong. It was so obvious. Whether she could do it correctly in the future, she didn’t know, but that didn’t matter. At this moment in time, she knew what to do. The Circle told her what to do.
She was the daughter of a king. Her mother had been a valiant warrior-queen. Emerald reached deep inside and drew the courage that was her heritage into the link connecting her to the Circle. Her courage jumped from one link of the Circle to another, increasing incrementally with each jump.
The cries of terror from the soldiers on the wall and the mob in the streets below lessened. The courage of the Circle continued to jump from link to link until the rampant fear threatening the city’s existence disappeared. The soldiers who’d abandoned their posts reversed direction and returned to their fighting positions while retrieving discarded weapons along the way. Thousands of civilians joined them on the wall; men, women, and even children. Several siege towers had already made it to the wall. Dozens of armored orcs and ogres were running across the tower’s ramps bent on death and destruction. The city’s defenders hurled defiance at the attacking orcs and their allies, driving them back.
Emerald heard a loud burping sound over her shoulder. She turned to see streams of green energy shooting out from the Dolgars’ flying ships. Much of the green energy was stopped by hasty defensive shields thrown up by the wizard scouts and surviving mages and priests. The Dolgars’ weapons were powerful, but the Circle increased the strength of the defender’s shields.
Wizard Rebellion (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 5) Page 27
